Statement of Senator Patrick Leahy
On Senate’s Failure to Act on S. 1602, the
“September 11^th Victim Compensation
Fund Extension Act of 2003”

December 9, 2003

 

Mr. President, I am saddened that the Senate has been unable to reach agreement to extend the pending deadline of the September 11 Victim Compensation Fund to allow for more time for the many still grieving victims who have been unable to bring themselves to endure the painful process of filing claims.  

 

On Sept. 9, Senators Durbin, Schumer, Dodd, Lieberman, Clinton, Corzine, and Lautenberg joined with me to introduce S.1602, the “September 11^th Victim Compensation Fund Extension Act of 2003.”  Unfortunately, this bill continues to be bottlenecked in the Judiciary Committee and blocked from Senate passage by anonymous Republican holds on the Senate floor.  Every Democratic Senator has agreed to pass our legislation by unanimous consent, but one or more members of the majority are still objecting to its passage in the Senate.

 

Senator Daschle, Senator Lautenberg and I have reached out to our Republican colleagues to try to achieve a compromise to extend this arbitrary deadline. We have expressed our willingness to do so for a period of time less than one year, but unfortunately the opponents of this bill have refused to meet us partway. Moreover, they have been unable to explain why it is necessary to force these families to confront this pain during an already stressful time – the holiday season.

 

Along with Senator Daschle, Congressman Gephardt and others, I worked hard to create the Victims Fund in the wake of the Sept, 11 attacks. We insisted that it be included in the legislation to bail out the airlines passed in the wake of the most devastating terrorist attacks on American soil.  The authorized deadline of Dec. 22, 2003 for applications to the Victims Fund is rapidly approaching, but it has become apparent that many families need more time before they can take that step.  Thus far, only a minority of families have applied to the Fund for compensation, according to the Department of Justice. 

 

Ken Feinberg, the Special Master of the Fund, has doing his best to get victims families to understand their rights and I commend him and others for their efforts to reach out to the victims and their families. 

 

Victims support groups have told me that to this day, they are still receiving calls from individuals who understand that the deadline is approaching but cannot face the emotional pain of preparing a claim.  In a survey conducted recently by victims’ organizations, 87 percent of the 356 victims who responded expressed support for extending the Dec. 22 deadline by one year.    Mr. Feinberg has also commented that many victims remain too paralyzed by their grief to confront the logistical burden and emotional pain of filing a death claim. 

 

In light of this painful reality, I believe it would have been appropriate to extend the deadline for filing applications to the Victims Fund.  This extension would have given grieving families additional time to mourn those who were lost and to overcome the emotional challenges of filing paperwork with the Victims Fund.   Every single Sept. 11 victims support group that I have spoken with agreed that a modest extension would provide some relief during these dark days for victims’ families as they endure the grieving process.  There is simply no reason not to grant these families a little bit of relief by extending the deadline. I am disappointed and saddened that anonymous Republican holds will result in unnecessarily closing off the September 11 Victim Fund before each victim had a sufficient chance to consider their options. 

 

With the holiday season upon us, victims did not need this arbitrary deadline confronting them.  This was something that the Senate could and should have accomplished for the still grieving victims of Sept. 11.   It is an unnecessary shame that we have not done so.    

 

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